8.30.2008

quieted by HiS love

"Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;shout, O Israel!Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;he has cleared away your enemies.The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;you shall never again fear evil.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:"Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.The LORD your God is in your midst,a mighty one who will save;he will rejoice over you with gladness;he will quiet you by his love;he will exult over you with loud singing.

I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,so that you will no longer suffer reproach.Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, andI will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth."Zephaniah 3.14-19

Ouch. My heart is challenged. Feeling that sword...how can I not believe all His promises? Am I so wise that my finite mind can grasp the plans of the infinite? Has He not said "so far as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above yours..."? Yesterday I was doubting. My heart was entrenched in the sin of unbelief. I was looking at circumstances I didn't like and trying to see how they could possibly be God's best for the people involved. That's not my job. My job is to only believe what He has said--and usually I find that after the choice to believe, little evidences of His grace present themselves. Even if they do not, I can rejoice. He has taken away the judgments I deserved--there is enough cause for rejoicing in that one phrase to carry me through the rest of my life. It doesn't mean life will always be fun. It doesn't mean I won't face sorrow. But it does mean I will always have cause to praise Him.

" i am trying, & will be trying every day for the rest of my life, to look for lovely in the simplest places & grandest moments. but i'm not always succeeding. i'm that guy on the football team who rarely catches a pass, but the team still likes him because he shows up for practice every day. "